What I’ve Been Reading: August 12, 2012

I haven’t been reading much this week, but dutifully, I bring you three articles to sink your teeth into. Read on for pieces about psychopathy, arcades, and our bleak future.

The Daily Mail, also known the UK’s National Tub of Diarrhoea, warns that some psychologists and employers consider not having a Facebook account to be ‘suspcious,’ in much the same way that some automotive dealers consider not having a car to be ‘communist.’ The article points out that James Holmes, the mass murderer behind the Aurora shooting tragedy, did not have a Facebook account, indicating that he was potentially a psychopath (which is the same thing as a schizophrenic, according to the Daily Mail). Or maybe he just read the Terms of Service.

Kyle Orland of Ars Technica writes about the comeback of the classic American arcade. Fuelled by a wave of retro nostalgia, hybrid arcade-bars are becoming popular amongst young adults. Too bad they won’t be able to match the high scores they attained while hopped up on Mountain Dew back in the eighties when they’re drunk on beer.

This one’s a couple of months old, but it’s interesting nonetheless: one man has kept a game of Civilization II running for ten years. What has he found? The world lies in ruin in after several nuclear wars, resources are dwindling, and peace seems to be impossible. Ehh…sounds about right.

Also of note this week: Facebook has started advertising apps on its homepage, two at a time. Sometimes, you can get hilarious match-ups like this:

Considering the recent EA/Zynga lawsuit, this is pretty hilarious. I swear, sometimes Facebook is just trolling us.

Any thoughts on the articles this week? Think that Facebook is just messing with everyone? Sound off in the comments below.